Requiem (Delirium #3) - Lauren Oliver [Review]

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis of the book

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past. But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day. Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings. Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.But we have chosen a different road. And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose. We are even free to choose the wrong thing.Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.Review

For me, Requiem was a disappointing end to a good trilogy.I liked Delirium and even loved Pandemonium. Lena had undergone a great character development and newly-introduced Julian was very likeable. I did not really like the character of Alex (her love interest in book 1 who was captured at the end) that much, but he was away the whole of book 2. Lena's life in the Wilds changed her character for the better.But then Requiem... Of course the previous book ended with Alex reuniting with Lena, while she is now with Julian. The beginning of the book is almost entirely about how Lena is jealous about Alex' new relationship and how she is actually leading Julian on, because she is still in love with Alex. Later fortunately she turned by and got back to her old self, but only after Alex left. This really disappointed me, because Lena had become such a strong character in the last 2 books and this jealous girl was not. The rest of the book was a series of events that showed that rebels were gathering and the government was trying to stop them. Lena's long-lost mother also stops by, but this does not add much to the story.Of course Alex was not very nice during this book, but what will you expect from someone who has been in prison to save the girl he loves only to find out she has found someone else when he comes back.Julian is such a great guy, he gave up everything to run away with Lena to Wilds. He is always there for her, he does not deserve to be treated like Lena did. One time she is nice to him and the other she ignores him. This was a bit of a disappointment after their great relationship in Pandemonium, but it was sort of to be expected after Alex returning.I liked the parts where Hana (Lena's best friend from before the Wilds) was narrating. She gave the reader the opportunity of experiencing the government-controlled cities, not only the Wilds. She has a strong character and she fights back against the Cure.Then what I most disliked about the book was the ending. I was very surprised when I found out this was the end of the series. The ending was so abrupt, it seemed weird there was no next book.The whole book the writer has been building up to a conclusion. And exactly when you think all your questions will be answered the book stops. What will happen to Hana, will she escape and will she and Lena live together in the Wilds? Who will Lena choose, Julian or Alex? What will happen to the revolution overall, will the Invalids win? All this was unanswered. Talking about an anti-climax ... The ending of the book kind of ruined the whole trilogy for me. What good is a nice story when there is no actual ending?So, while Delirium and Pandemonium were great books, Requiem, mostly because of the ending, was not. I would strongly advise the writer to write a fourth book, because I am still full of questions. For now I am leaving it at 2 stars, for the rest of the book was OK.

Stars: 2 out of 5

Okay, this was my first review ever. If you have any tips or recommendations for me, please tell me.

5 comments:

I knew that some people would really hate the ending to this book. Personally, I liked it because I appreciated Oliver's perspective that fighting for your freedom is worth it regardless of whether or not it all turns out alright in the end. Of course, I just imagined my own ending where Lean ends up with Alex and the revolution wins out in the end. :-)

I saw your post on The YA Book Club Discussion group and thought that I would check out your blog. I'm now following your blog. I'd love it if you'd follow back!

I totally agree with you, I just finished Requiem yesterday and *sigh* the ending frustrated me so much! What will happen to Hana? Will the Resistance take Portland? There were so many unanswered questions. But Oliver's writing was still beautiful. :/

Thanks for that honest review. I loved the trilogy and I liked Requiem but the ending was very lackluster and disappointing. There were A LOT of unanswered questions and I'm really hoping that Lauren Oliver would write another spin-off or even maybe an extended epilogue. I wouldn't complain even if it was only available on her blog.

Yes, thanks for this honest review. I also didn't really like it because Alex and Lena didn't talk much during this book and I loved these protagonists in the first book. I didn't like Pandemonium that much either.